The Night Bus Hero

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Thereby begins a bit of a roller coaster adventure to discover just who else is targetting the homeless community after valued London icons start mysteriously disappearing. There is a bit of a Scooby Doo feel to this part of the story, but it does help to lighten the mood a little, without taking away from the main messages of the story... i.e. don't judge books by their covers and take the time to get to know people. I've been getting into trouble for as long I can remember. Usually I don't mind 'cos some of my best, most brilliant ideas have come from sitting in detention. But recently it feels like no one believes me about anything - even when I'm telling the truth! And it's only gotten worse since I played a prank on the old man who lives in the park. Everyone thinks I'm just a bully. They don't believe I could be a hero. But I'm going to prove them all wrong...

But recently it feels like no one believes me about anything – even when I’m telling the truth! And it’s only gotten worse since I played a prank on the old man who lives in the park. Hector is a bully who doesn’t really care about anyone and thinks his cringey parents don’t care about him. His teachers don’t seem to like him (he certainly hates them), he particularly dislikes teacher’s pet Mei Lei, and he devotes his time to being mean to other kids and making them give him sweets. The boy's an absolute menace.' 'He's a bully. A lost cause!' 'Why can't he be more like his sister?' This would make a great class read for upper primary classes. My nearly 10-year-old and I just finished Rauf's debut and I'll be starting this one with him soon. It raises issues I'd like to have a context for so that we can then use for discussions, and Hector is engaging and a character you really want to see change a little. His family life plays a role in his actions and readers will notice that. But when a prank on a homeless person gets out of hand this leads to Hector being befriended - somewhat reluctantly at first, by Mei-Li – who introduces Hector to the shelter she helps in and thus to an understanding of some of the pressures and causes of homelessness. An important social message for all – but this book is also a who-done-it trying to solve mysterious, slightly odd crimes whilst the graffiti left at the scenes of these crimes seem to indicate that homeless people are involved in some way.His partner in not-crime is Mei-Li, who helps at her father’s local soup kitchen and so acts as the connection between Hector and the homeless community. She is smart, but also brave and principled, and written with such passion that you can’t help but feel immediately supportive and defensive of her. The compassion she shows to the homeless is a welcome contrast to Hector’s sullenness. Hector is a most unlikable protagonist, but then readers see his family's dynamics and the things he does are almost understandable in his need to get some attention his way. And while you may feel some empathy, it only lasts momentarily, as he commences his bad acts again. But, Hector is a boy who is and does deserve redemption. A clever artist who needs his talents redirected. I don’t think Raúf has put a foot wrong so far with her novels to date – and this is no exception. Told from the interesting perspective of the bully in school, Hector gains our sympathy quite unexpectedly – we can see how and why he gets the blame, often deservedly, but also when it’s not really his fault.

Hector has parents that travel the world on charity work missions, a younger brother (Hercules) and older sister (Helen - you might see the theme there), and a couple of 'friends' at school who goad him on as he steals money and sweets and generally makes life in his school a bit of a hell for a lot of other children. Showing off one day at the park, he ends up sending a homeless man's trolley into the lake, observed by Mei-Li, a girl in his class. Unrepentant, he does however later see this homeless man appear to be the culprit behind a series of bizarre but fiendishly clever robberies in the city of London.The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too. Hector, 10-years-old and a middle child, has always been a bully and a prankster. And subsequently spending a lot of time in the principal's office. From the beginning, it's clear that Hector thinks very little of most people, and often does what he does just to annoy them. For example, as the book opens, Hector is about to drop a second rubber snake into the school's lunch soup, and even as the principal warns him not to, Hector defiantly does it anyway, knowing he will be in trouble. He always to derive satisfaction knowing he's ruin something for someone with his pranks. But, for him, it's ok, after all, his friends Will and Katie always think his antics are funny. I enjoyed this story very much - the tranformation of the main character, Hector, from nasty bully to hero was relatively simplistic, but effective and powerful. Coffee house Caffè Nero has announced the 16-strong shortlist for the inaugural Nero Book Awards, recognising the outstanding books of the past 12... In The Night Bus Hero, we meet Hector who has been getting into trouble for as long as he can remember. He doesn't mind being in detention often, because that's when he comes up with his best ideas. Along with his two friends, Will and Katie, Hector is feared by all the pupils at his primary school and the teachers think of him first when there is any kind of incident. His parents are often working away from home, but they express their disappointment in his behaviour when they are around.

Scenting a way of getting both rewards and recognition, he determines he needs to find out more about this homeless man, Thomas, from Mei-Li, who volunteers at the local soup kitchen. This isn't exactly a 'story of redemption' but it does take in several angles and does so successfully, threading Hector's growing understanding of homelessness with a confusing friendship with someone he's bullied, and even a mystery/crime plot as they attempt to prove who is committing the thefts. But recently it feels like no one believes me about anything - even when I'm telling the truth! And it's only gotten worse since I played a prank on the old man who lives in the park.

Synopsis

I've been getting into trouble for as long I can remember. Usually I don't mind 'cos some of my best, most brilliant ideas have come from sitting in detention. In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary. What starts off as an attempt by Hector to avoid the consequences of his actions turns into a thrilling adventure with Thomas and Mei-Li, featuring a daring thief, a case of mistaken identity, a secret code and a growing understanding of not just what life is like for the homeless, but the wildly different circumstances that can lead people to lose everything. This book touches on many themes, with the main two being bullying and homelessness. Onjali manages to write about these in a serious way, whilst still bringing in a humorous side. I loved going on the journey with Hector and seeing him learn about homeless people and how they aren't bad like he thinks they are at the beginning - the friendship that blossoms between Thomas and Hector is truly beautiful. I also liked seeing how Hector changed throughout the story, learning about homelessness really changed his behavior and way that he views the world, by the end of the book he has settled down and is no longer a bully like his former friends Will and Katie (they may have been the influence on Hector's bullying in the first place). I also have a wider knowledge of the homeless after reading this, and I don't think I could ever walk past a person on the street in the same way again. I am grateful for this insight into the challenges and terrors that these people face in their daily lives and have even more respect for them than I did before.